LEON
|illustrator = Unrevealed; stock image |- |company = Zero-G Limited |release = January 15, 2004 |language = English |type = VOCALOID1 |code = ZGV1Manufacturer's Code:ZGV1Crypton; reduced code |affiliation = YAMAHA Corporation |website = |- |img gallery = yes |cat gallery = yes }} LE♂'N' is an English VOCALOID developed and distributed by Zero-G Limited, and was released in January 2004 for the first VOCALOID engine. He was one of the 4 known "Project Daisy" vocals. He, along with L♀LA, were among the first voice banks to be commercially distributed.MIT Press Journals LEON is advertised as a "virtual male soul vocalist modeled on a real professional singer"; his voice provider has never been revealed, but was described officially as "Black and English" and is a well established musician in Great Britain.http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/822/82220946009.pdf Concept Etymology While it is unknown why Zero-G chose this name, "Leon" is a name of Latin origins and is used in several countries in Europe as a variation of the name "Leo", meaning "Lion".Meaning of Leon's name Appearance LEON's boxart was standard for his day and rival software package Cantor would later adopt the same boxart style, the boxart for both products are from stock images. The photographer for LEON's boxart is unknown, but the photograph is on various stock photo sites. An example of the original is here titled "Profile of woman with finger next to lips" x13037575. LEON has since been taken as one of the few "Avatar-less" VOCALOIDs. Relations *L♀LA - A complementary voice bank with feminine vocals. History Marketing LEON and LOLA received standard advertisement for their day. They were advertised on the internet and in electronic magazines. At the time, this was normal for software synthesizers and there was no VOCALOID fandom to aid with their development. They were aimed at professionals and therefore, had no fan input in mind. Their boxart was changed, along with the method of marketing them, some time after Zero-G announced their role in the development of VOCALOID and both were intended to be marketed as a pair.via wayback machine For a period he, along with LOLA and MIRIAM, were not for sale due to the lack of interest in synthesized voices. This lack of interest was owed to the sudden change in trends. After increased interest began to occur in VOCALOID™ and demand was renewed, Zero-G began reselling LEON, LOLA, and MIRIAM from their own website via their virtual shop. According to Zero-G interview in 2010, the three may also get a redesign in the future.Engloid Blog - Zero-G Interview: Dom Keefe Voicebanks ;LEON :LEON was a male "soul singer" vocal and the counter-partner vocal to LOLA. He has a soul singing male vocal with a smooth and high vocal for Soul singing. * LEON (Project Daisy), unreleased. * LEON (VOCALOID), January 15, 2004 Music featuring LEON }} Reputation |- |Impact = Their initial failure in America resulted in MIRIAM originally only being sold in Europe, she would not be sold in America until 2008 when all 3 were re-sold. Until BIG AL in 2009, no other English-capable male VOCALOID existed, so those wanting a masculine vocal in the English engine had LEON as the only option. |- |Misc = In the Nico Nico Douga International VOCALOID ranking 2010, LEON had the 3rd most notable number of appearances, with 4 appearances in the top 30 songs of 2010. * An independent search on Nico Nico Douga revealed that most VOCALOIDs had less than 1,000 videos uploaded on Nico Nico Douga in 2011 between July 1st and December 15th. LEON fell into that category.NND survey |- |Trivia = *It was LOLA and LEON's appearance at the NAMM trade show that would later introduce rival VOCALOID studio PowerFX to the VOCALOID program.Engloid Blog - Zero-G Interview: Bil Bryant |- |Achievements = *First Male vocal ever released *First and only male VOCALOID produced by Zero-G *One of the two first VOCALOIDs ever released *One of the first two VOCALOID voicebanks ever released *One of the two first English vocals ever released *One of the two first specialized vocals ever released *One of the two first Zero-G VOCALOIDs released *One of the first two avatar-less VOCALOIDs produced *Sole English-capable masculine vocal for 6 years *Used in the first VOCALOID related album ever released commercially |- |color = leon }} References External links Navigation Category:LEON Category:Zero-G Limited Category:VOCALOID Category:VOCALOID1 Category:Masculine vocals Category:English vocals